Tuesday, July 22, 2008

CITY MARKET DAY (Thursday the 17th)

Yes, this day was City Market Day....every Thursday is city market day in Salzburg. It is another must-do if you are in Salzburg on a Thursday. It starts at 6am (and I actually did go there once at 6AM...and it was in full swing, all the stands were already set-up and selling) and goes until about 1 in the afternoon (or as they would print here in Europe...13 o'clock!) The market has the usual market things one would expect like fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, flowers, spices...but oh...SO MUCH MORE!!! Everything from wooden clogs to plucked chickens (with heads intact!)...from belt buckles to hand-made felt dolls, from pastries to hand-painted wooden boxes to silk scarves to jams to honey to schnapps!!! Market Day is a wonderful day.....well.....except when it is pouring down rain!!! Some of our students made the venture...Herr Prof. Strobl and his lovely wife led the German students (and a few tag-a-longs - all welcome, of course, the more the merrier)...and they did get to see it all.

This day was also our rescheduled day for our trip to Hellbrunn's Watertricks Palace....and thankfully we were able to conduct the entire tour without rain (followed by a major down pour!). This tour is always a total blast...so much excitement....with water shooting out at everyone in every direction!!! No photos for you though (except for this fun group photo before the tour began)....can't risk the camera! But trust me, it was sooooo much fun!

I enjoyed this day on a personal level because it was the day that Wanda and Reinhard came for lunch! Wanda, my sister, a.k.a. "Daughter # 2", has been living in Germany for the past 20 years. She just married an Austrian (two months ago), her high school sweetheart, to be exact. Way back in the days of our teen years (well, SHE was a teen, I was MUCH younger!!!), Wanda lived in the small ski resort village of Radstadt, Austria for half a year (a plan masterminded by my Father and Herr Pichler, the man who ran the ski school that we used for our Austrian Ski tours....they decided to trade daughters....Dad had four, he had three, it would work....and the girls would get the opportunity to live in different countries...Wanda lived with the Pichlers first, then Anabel came and lived with us, then Erica -Daughter # 3- went and lived there, then Bettina came and lived with us...then I guess I got too involved with things at school and never went, and Salome was too involved in ski competitions, so it stopped there...but it was a wonderful thing while it lasted...Anabel ended up going to Slippery Rock University and married an American...lives in the States and has three girls of her own now!!)...anyway.... Wanda fell in love when she lived in Austria, with the Pichler's neighbor, Reinhard...they sort of kept touch throughout the years...through friends or the grapevine, but it never worked out for them...until recently, and finally they got back together (30 years later) and now they are married!! So, they came to Salzburg for a visit (from Munich)....it was great. Along for the fun came Stephanie and her boyfriend Russell...who just arrived in Grödig the day before (for a much too short week's visit)...we went to the Hotel Untersberger's restaurant for delicious meals, drinks, coffee, and of course friendly conversation (this restaurant always has interesting...if not somewhat strange but cute ornaments as table centerpieces and spread out on every nook and crany...had to take a photo!)

Later that evening Vipin and I took Stephanie and Russell to one of the 'secret' cafes in the woods named The Esterer...in another village under the Untersberg,two villages away from Grödig, named Fürstenbrunn (famous for it's Untersberg Museum with a wonderful marble shop!). I try and always go there at least once every year...for their home-made and out-of-this-world Topfenstrudl (soft-cheese pastry)....and my oh my...was it worth the visit.!°Fau Esterer came out of the kitchen to greet us and asked how my Father was doing....I've been going to this place since I was a little girl, and all of these local places remember the Lenz Family (with their four girls)! The Esterer is so warm and cozy, it is a guesthouse as well as a restaurant with a wonderful outdoor eating area that features three interesting and specialized things...(1) birds - as in beautiful ducks, peacocks, hens and the like, are in a fenced in large area right beside the out door eating area, (2) there is an incredible marble statue of King Karl sitting at a huge marble table (a gift from the Esterer children for their parents) and (3) a huge field on the other side of the outdoor eating area where hang-gliders from the UntersbergMountain land--a fabulous thing to sit back and watch while you enjoy a nice glass of wine...and in recent years their daughter-in-law put in a ropes challenge course (on the otherside of the field) which features The Untersberg Challenge (where people can go and learn Rope-climbing)!!! I think our secret is out!!! Well...we all tried different desserts and I'll just say....YUM YUM...here are the photos (note the beautiful dishes, from Gmunden...famous for it's hand-made pottery)!!!